Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Radar contact was lost with the airplane while en route from Cumaná to Coro, heading 262° some 30 NM off Barcelona. The airplane failed to arrive at destination. SAR operations were initiated and no trace of the airplane nor the occupants was found.

The pilot reported that he began the accident flight with 160 gallons of fuel on board. The airplane was equipped with two main wingtip fuel tanks, two in-wing auxiliary fuel tanks, and one engine nacelle locker fuel tank. His normal procedure was to operate for 50 minutes out of the main tanks, then use most of the fuel in the auxiliary tanks, then transfer fuel out of the locker tank and use all of that fuel. While approaching the destination airport, he attempted to transfer fuel from the locker tank; however, he later noticed that fuel was not transferring from that tank. Later, the right engine lost all power, followed by the left. He subsequently ditched the airplane in the ocean about 17 miles from of the destination airport. The airplane landed on the water, and the pilot and his passengers donned life vests and egressed before the airplane sank. The occupants were rescued about 4 hours later. The airplane was not recovered from the ocean and was presumed substantially damaged. A postaccident examination of the fuel system could not be performed and the reason for the pilot’s inability to transfer fuel from the engine nacelle locker tank could not be determined.

The medical transport flight was en route to pick up a patient on a neighboring island on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan in dark night conditions over the ocean. About 13 minutes after departure, at 13,000 ft mean sea level (msl), the airplane’s vertical gyro failed, which subsequently failed the pilot’s Electric Attitude Director Indicator (EADI), which also caused the autopilot to disconnect. The failure of the EADI and autopilot disconnect required the pilot to manually fly the airplane using the copilot’s attitude gyro for his horizon information (bank angle and pitch attitude) for the duration of the flight. The pilot did not declare an emergency, nor did he inform air traffic control (ATC) that his electric attitude indicator had failed and that his autopilot had disengaged. After the instrumentation failure and autopilot disconnect, the airplane entered a series of right banks before being brought back to level, followed by a left turn, and then subsequent right banks. ATC asked the pilot to change course and the pilot agreed. The copilot attitude indicator indicated that the airplane entered a descending, steep right bank turn. Over the next 5 minutes, ATC issued varying instructions to the pilot. During this time, the airplane entered several right- and left-hand banks and rolls and descended 1,000 ft per minute (fpm), which increased to -3,500 fpm as the airplane’s airspeed increased. About 7 minutes after the instrumentation failure, the airplane was in a 65° bank angle when ATC asked the pilot to verify his heading. As the pilot responded, the airplane bank angle increased to 90° and the airspeed exceeded 260 knots. The bank angle and airspeed continued to increase; a loud metallic bang was recorded that was consistent with an in-flight separation of the empennage from the fuselage before impacting with the water. After an extensive underwater search, the main wreckage was located on the seabed at a depth of about 6,420 ft. The wreckage was recovered and transported to a facility for examination.

The single engine airplane departed Buochs Airport on December 12 on a delivery flight to its new owner, Smart Cakrawala Aviation based in Indonesia. The crew made a stop in Maribor and Podgorica then continued to Heraklion. On December 15, shortly after takeoff from Heraklion-Nikos Kazantzakis Airport runway 09, en route to Hurghada, the airplane climbed to an altitude of 1,400 feet when the pilot reported problems and declared an emergency. After completing a right turn to return to the airport, the airplane lost height and speed then stalled and crashed into the sea off Karteros. The pilot aged 26 was slightly injured while the passenger, an Indonesian citizen aged 68, died shortly later. The airplane floated for a while then sank. Named 'Franz', the airplane was the last PC-6 built by the Swiss manufacturer.

During the approach, the crew encountered heavy rain and thunderstorms with lightning as well as significant crosswind and turbulence. During the final approach, several nose down inputs on the control column increased the descent rate of the aircraft. The EGPWS SINK RATE-SINK RATE alert triggered 15 seconds before the accident. Then the EGPWS PULL-UP warning triggered, followed by flight crew's nose up input on control column, around 2 seconds before the aircraft struck the water surface of Lake Victoria about 500 meters short of runway 31 threshold. The impact with the water caused significant damage to the aircraft fuselage followed by water entering the cabin and flight deck. There was no fire but the aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair. Of the 43 persons on board, 17 passengers and 2 pilots lost their lives while 22 passengers and 2 cabin crew members survived without serious injuries. It is considered that conducting an unstabilized final approach in poor weather conditions that could not allow clear visual contact with the ground was a major factor in this accident.The decision of the Pilot in Command to negotiate his way through the narrow weather window in order to reach the runway,the high crew workload caused by the presence of thunderstorms, the variable cross wind, rain and turbulence as well as the absence of air traffic services at Bukoba airport were contributory factors. The aircraft sank by a depth about 3-4 metres.

The airplane departed Palenque Airport, Chiapas, on a private flight to Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. While on approach at an altitude of about 2,000 feet at night, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed into the sea some 28 km southeast of the destination airport. The accident occurred three minutes prior to ETA. Few debris and two dead bodies were found two days later. On board were the German businessman Rainer Schaller, founder of the fitness chain 'McFit', his wife, two children and a friend.

On 12 October 2022, the True North Airways Inc. de Havilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft on floats (registration C-FDDX, serial number 165) was conducting a visual flight rules flight, with 1 pilot on board, from Mistissini Water Aerodrome (CSE6), Quebec, to Pluto Lake, Quebec, where it would deliver cargo and pick up passengers. At approximately 0929 Eastern Daylight Time, while manoeuvring for landing on Pluto Lake, the aircraft collided with the surface of the water. The pilot sustained serious injuries. The passengers, who had been waiting near the lake for the aircraft’s arrival, transported the pilot to a nearby cabin from where he was later taken to hospital by a search and rescue helicopter. The emergency locator transmitter activated. There was significant damage to the aircraft.

The airplane departed Jerez-La Parra Airport at 1456LT on a flight to Cologne-Bonn Airport with four people on board. It continued at an assigned altitude of 36,000 feet until it entered the German Airspace. German ATC was unable to establish a radio contact with the crew so the decision was taken to send a Panavia Tornado of the Luftwaffe that departed Rostock-Laage AFB and intercepted the Cessna at 1815LT. The military pilot did not see any one in the cockpit and evacuated the area five minutes later. The airplane overflew Germany then entered the Swedish Airspace and continued bound to the northeast without significant change in heading, altitude or speed (365 knots). At 2028LT, the airplane started to descent and initiated a turn to the right three minutes later. At 2040LT, it entered an uncontrolled descent to the left and spiraled to the sea before crashing at 2044LT about 37 km northwest of Ventspils. Few debris and oil were found at the point of impact. The accident was not survivable.

On September 4, 2022, about 1509 Pacific daylight time, a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-3 (Otter), N725TH, was destroyed when it impacted the water in Mutiny Bay, near Freeland, Washington, and sank. The pilot and nine passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was owned by Northwest Seaplanes, Inc., and operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 scheduled passenger flight by West Isle Air dba Friday Harbor Seaplanes. The flight originated at Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (W33), Friday Harbor, Washington, with an intended destination of Will Rogers Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base (W36), Renton, Washington. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The accident pilot was scheduled to fly the accident airplane on three multiple leg roundtrips on the day of the accident. The first roundtrip flight was uneventful; it departed from W36 about 0930, made four stops, and returned about 1215. The accident occurred during the pilot’s second trip of the day. A review of recorded automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the second roundtrip departed 36 about 1253 and arrived at Lopez Seaplane Base, (W81), Lopez Island, Washington, about 1328.2 The data showed that the flight then departed W81 and landed at Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (W39) about 1356. The airplane departed W39 about 1432, arrived at W33 about 1438, and departed about 1450. According to ADS-B data, after the airplane departed W33, it flew a southerly heading before turning south-southeast. The en route altitude was between 600 and 1,000 ft above mean sea level (msl), and the groundspeed was between 115 and 135 knots. At 1508:40, the altitude was 1,000 ft msl, and the groundspeed had decreased to 111 knots. Based on performance calculations, at 1508:43, the airplane pitched up about 8° and then abruptly pitched down about 58°. The data ended at 1508:51, when the airplane’s altitude was 600 ft msl and the estimated descent rate was more than 9,500 ft per minute (the flightpath of the airplane is depicted in figure. Witnesses near the accident site reported, and security camera video confirmed, the airplane was in level flight before it entered a slight climb and then pitched down. One witness described the descent as “near vertical” and estimated the airplane was in an 85° nose-down attitude before impact with the water. Several witnesses described the airplane as “spinning,” “rotating,” or “spiraling” during portions of the steep descent. One witness reported hearing the engine/propeller and noted that he did not hear any “pitch change” in the sounds. The airplane continued in a nose-low, near-vertical descent until it impacted water in Mutiny Bay.

On August 13, 2022, about 1619 mountain standard time, a Cessna T207A airplane, N9582M, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Page, Arizona. The pilot received minor injuries, two passengers were fatally injured, two passengers were seriously injured, and one passenger received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 air tour flight. According to witnesses, the accident airplane was the first airplane in a flight of 5 airplanes on a scenic tour of the Lake Powell area at a cruise altitude of about 1,000 ft to 2,000 ft above ground level. After nearly 30 minutes of flight and after making a turn back towards the airport, the accident pilot made a distress call and reported his engine lost power and he was ditching the airplane in Lake Powell. The airplane became submerged in the water and the two passengers who were fatally injured did not exit the airplane. National Park Service boats, several nearby private boats, and a few helicopters responded to the accident site, which was located about 13 miles northeast of the Page Municipal Airport, (PGA), Page, Arizona. The boats assisted the survivors in the water. Once aboard a boat that recovered the survivors, witnesses overheard the pilot on the phone discussing that he had experienced an engine failure. An underwater remote observation vehicle surveyed the accident site a couple of days after the accident. All major components of the airplane were observed, and the airplane came to rest upright at the lake bottom about 100 ft below the surface.